RAI:VAN LAERE* & 01.~:~TROS'îYANSKY** MEDIEVAL FLEMISH CLOTH SEALS FROM SARAY AL-DJADID (RUSSIA)*** Abstrari: During the nliddle hges the production of broad cloth is one of the niain sourres of income for the I,ow Countries and especially Flanders. Organic niaterials such as textile leale very few remains which inakes them difficult to trace in archarologiral research. Medieval cloth uTassealed with lead seals by the ci\ ic authorities of the cities where it was produced. However medieval Flemish cloth seals are il1 studied. A few suggestions for a new approach based on the fornial properties of these lead seals are made. A series of surface finds in Saray al-Djaclid (Russia), the ancient capital of the Golden IIorde, and some neigh- boring towns provide neur insights in the lrade of Flemish cloth during the 14th century. Seals of several rloth prodiicing Fleniish cities urere identified: Aire (F), Danime, nlechelcn, Popcringe, Tournai and Ypres. Others could not yet been identified. For tlie first time a lead tubular seal is published bearing the badge of the Jochids. The production of woolen cloth has been one of the major foundation stones of the economic and cultiiral rise of the Southern 1,ow Countries during the Middle Ages. The origins of cloth production in Flanders are not very well documented but it is clear that from the end of the Ilt" century onwards cloth production evolved from a domestic occupation to a highly specialized proto-industrial activity focusing on the export of high quality products. During the 13th and the first half of the 141h century tlie production of woolen cloth was at its apex in Flanders. The esport of high quality Flemish cloth took two directions. The Hanseatic League monopolized trade with Northern Europe and adjacent parts of Russia. The exact extent of these exports is difficult to judge since local - Russian and other - sources at the end of the trade chain are either inex- istent or insufficienlly esploited by historic research. The cloth itself has long since disappeared and left hardly an- traces but for the lead cloth seals. These inconspicuous witnesses are prone to survive where organic material such as textile is destroyed by wear and tear, insects, water and time. The find of e.g. a cloth seal of Tournai during archaeological exca- vations at Novgorod illustrates the possibilities offered by this kind of * Kaf Y.\N L.\EIIE,Rozenstraat 22, H-3500 Hasselt. E-rnail: [email protected]. ** Oleç TROS~Y,~NSK\-,S. Jlihailova 1-2W2, RU- Cliebokskary 428015. E-mail: shwï[email protected]. *** Uoth authors are grateful to Evgeny Goncharov (Iristitute of Oriental Studies of the Russian hcademy of Sciences, Moscow) who kindly commented on the first draft of tliis article. ohjects.' But for the moment lack of archaeological evidence makes it hard or even impossible to follow Flemish cloth from Novgorod deeper into Russia and Asia. A large part of the export however depended on the Champagne Fairs where Italian mercharits bouglit Flernish clolh to export it to the Medi- terranean and the Near East. After the decline of the Champagne Fairs during the last quarter of the 13th century Genoa concentrated on the direct sea route through the Atlantic to the cloth producing cities of I'landers, especially Bruges. The 13thcentury was one of the most fascinating periods in the Middle Ages. For the first time since the end of the Roman hegemony Europe was linked with a global network that stretched from the Iberian penin- sula in the West to China in the East and from Scandinavia in the North to Indonesia and the African coasts of the Indian Ocean in the South. Europe was an equal partner but situated somewhat at the periphery. The Italian cities rivaled to dominate the trade between Europe and the East. The involvement of Venice in the Criisades resulted in a sometimes uneasy alliance with Mamluk Egypt which made it possibly for her to eliminate partially her rivals especially Genoa. Venice had access, albeit indirectly to the sea route from Egypt to the East and depended for her European contacts for a çood deal on the land route over Germany. The Genoese were avid buyers of Flemish cloth. But the final des- tination of the cloth they bought is difficult to estahlish since, once it arrived in Italy, it hardly left a trace between the numerous other prod- ucts traded by the Genoese. From the late 13t" century onwards Genoa preferred the sea route to reach Flanders and other European destina- tions. By establishing several trading ports on the coast of the Black Sea especially in the Crimea, Genoa hoped to optimalize its Eastern trade over the land route through Central Asia. Xpparently the ancient Silk Road happened to be relatively safe during the larger part of the 13th century. The fact that both the Roman Catholic Church and the Mon- gols several times tried to establish good mutual relation undoubtedly favored the economic links at some point. But even before the advent of the Black Death in the middle of the 14t'' century the situation had changed. As the interna1 strive between and within the Mongol succes- sor states increased, the land route to China became increasingly unsafe. But both Genoa and Venice continued their commercial activities on the coast of the Black Sea for other reasons such as slave trade and kept in touch with the Golden Horde." ' J. BL;\NI<OFF,À propos de plombs de Tournai trouvPs à Souyorod, in ,Vlémoires de la Société royale d'liisfoire et d'urcliéoloyir de Tournai, 1, 1980, p. 13-31. For thc Inore general background see P. SPITFFORD,1)ower and Profit. The 1Tl~rchu11fin Jledieual Europe, New York, 2003. "he introductory paragraphs are largely indebted to the inspiring book of .J.L. AHT--LIT(;HOD,Before Buropean Hegemony. The World System A.D. 1250-13.50, New York-Oxford, 1991 but also to P. .J.~c~;sox,The .VIongols und the IVesl, 1221-1410 (The hIEDIEVh1. T1,hMlSII CLOTH SEALS F1<0h1 SAI<Ai' Ar2-DJ4DlD 105 The presence of Flemish cloth seals from the last quarter of the 14"' wntury in the ancient capitals of the Golden Horde gives us the first tangible proof of the export of Flemish woolen cloth in the area north of the Caspian Sea at the threshold of the Silk Road. Although it is not impossible that the Flemish cloth reached the Golden Horde by the way of Genoese traders that bought it directly in Bruges or elsewhere in Flan- drrs, it seems more probable that it followed the Baltic route and crossed Russia from Novgorod downwards. Cloth seals During the Middle Ages and Modern Times woolen cloth played a niajor role in the prosperity of both large and small towns of the Low Countries. It should come as no surprise that these towns closely super- l-ised the quality of the cloth produced within their jurisdiction. Quality control linked with a tendency to monopolize the production of cloth and to out market competitors were a constant in the economic preoccupa- tions of town councils. Quality control was materialized in lead seals. It is not clear when and where lead seals were introduced as quality niarks for textile. It has been suggested that their use was inspired by Byzantine examples. But since these Byzantine seals were probahly of the bulla-type the question of the origin of the other types of lead seals remains unsolved. The oldest normative text that mentions the use of seals is dated 1220 and cornes from Maastricht.? However there is no rea- son to suggest that Maastricht was innovating here. It seems plausible that seals were introduced in Planders as early as the 12thcentury. By the middle of the 13''' century the use of lead seals was common practice not only in Flanders but also in Holland, France, Italy, Germany and S~ain.~ Even in the Low Countries, where cloth making was a major export industry, the study of lead seals has been neglected to the point that gen- eral overviews are still nonexistent. Literature dates often from the lgth century or is scattered over a large number of local publications that are difficult to trace." Medieval World), Harlow, 2005 and especially chapter 11 Traders and adr~enturers, p. 290 sqs. for a somewhat more nuanccd point of view. %,OP.~EXDRENK, NOS sculieti, scabini et universitas cic~iumin Trajecto. Verfassung und Herrschuftsgefügr der Stadt Maastrichl im 13. Jahrhundert, 2006 (diss. Trier). ' 1,. CLEJIENS,Tuchsiryel, in Cr. SIGNOHI(ed.), Bas Siegel. tiebrauch und Bedrulung, Darmstadt, 2007, p. 167-174. "uring the lgth century several rioles and articles on aBelgian0 lead seals were published in the RB,V. Ttie most informative for the niedirval period are: L.~ES- CI~AJIPSDE PAS,Quelques méreauz et plombs de marque relatifs à l'Artois, in RBN, 23, 1867, p. 114-131: seals of Saint-Omer (I;) (p. 127-130), Poperinge (p. 130), Aire (F) (p. 130), Arras (F) (p. 130-131) most of which were found in Thérouanne (F); E.H. VAN HENL)~:,1,ettrr dr 11.1. Van Ilende à M. R. Chalon, président de la Sociéié royule 106 RAF VAS I~AEREa ~LEGTROSTYAXSKY Recent publications by Egan%nd several German scholarsi are of lim- ited use since each country seems to follow its own traditions when seal- ing cloth or other products. The existing information on lead seals learns us that generalization is nearly impossible. Each town had its own rules that changed in the course of time. In some cases a seal guaranteed the quality of the weaving, another the quality of the fulling and a third the quality of the coloring, the length etc.